Pomo straddles the line between behind-the-scenes producer and in-the-spotlight electronic artist

Published May 12, 2017 at 10:16 AM

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Having produced tracks for the likes of Anderson .Paak and Mac Miller, Vancouver-based producer Pomo is no stranger to running in the high profile hip-hop circuit.

But he has a thing for both being behind the scenes as a producer and also being the main attraction as a multi-instrumentalist and an electronic artist.

“It’s like a totally different mindset. When you’re producing, you don’t have to get in that headspace of preparing yourself as the face of the music,” Pomo told me over the phone last week.

In 2016, Pomo’s debut EP, “The Other Day,” won him a Juno Award -- a better, Canadian version of the Grammys -- for Electronic Album of the Year.

According to him, “[The Juno Award] definitely helps a lot in Canada. It’s just a good thing for your resume and for getting grants.”

See, in Canada, artists have the opportunity to get grants from the government to help them fund their endeavors. This type of public arts funding is much harder to come by in the states. (I hope you can take a hint, America.)

Still, it seems like the geography of Canada’s arts dynamic mirrors that of the U.S. That is, “It’s interesting, and there’s definitely good pockets of really good music [in the West Coast city of Vancouver] … but there isn’t really much of a community. The scene was way more connected in [the East Coast city of] Montreal. Everyone would go,” Pomo said.

He might as well be describing the difference between the arts communities in Southern California and New York City. But things change and progress, from the interconnectedness of the West Coast to the future of electronic music.

Pomo is hopeful and open about it all. “EDM is one of the biggest things, and it’s just going to transition. A lot of DJs are trying to get their live set performance together. It’s just going to go through changes,” he said.

One of the interesting things about Pomo’s music is that it affords him the ability to morph from a club atmosphere where the dancing crowd is in the spotlight to a venue atmosphere where the artist is in the spotlight.

Good thing Bang Bang is a mix of both. See him there on Saturday, May 13.